Do your children help or hinder your ministry of hospitality ...

This is a BLOG article from Tim Bayly - enjoy! - Greg

Last week I wrote of our small groups’ Christmas parties, saying that we had a ton of children in our house and that it was an absolute joy. Later my daughter, Hannah, commented that she and my wife, Mary Lee, had counted sixty-one in our home that night, thirty of whom were children. Other small group leaders wrote in to give a count of adults and children at their parties, also.

“How could you hear yourselves think” you may be asking? “Didn’t the children make it impossible for the adults to talk? Weren’t they interrupting all the time, crying or running through the room screaming like banshees?”

No, they weren’t. Sure, one of the babies cried occasionally, but his parents were relieved by others so they didn’t bear the full weight of his care throughout the three or so hours we had fellowship together.

“But what about the toddlers; weren’t they disruptive?”

Not really. They were able to go to different rooms in the house. Others played outside for a while. Generally, we were able to have an ordered evening with eight to ten little groups throughout the house sitting (or standing) and talking together.

Which brings me to some observations about the potential children have for disrupting Christian hospitality, whether that hospitality is having others over for a meal or hosting a small group in our home.

READ FULL BLOG ARTICLE